Assistant City Attorney Amanda Briggs said this is a case of equitable
enforcement of the sign ordinance. To allow the skate shop to display
the broken skateboards gave it one more sign than other businesses.

Skateboarders attending Monday’s meeting saw it differently. Some said
the trees are a work of art. Others said it was a memorial to all
those who skate.

They had an almost universal reaction to the Board of Adjustment’s
decision — it was people in power sticking it to them.

“I expected this,” said Stephen Waters, who works at the skate shop.
“Any time you talk about skateboarding it’s a negative.

“I’ve even been ticketed just walking down the street with my
skateboard.”

Waters said he had between 15 and 20 broken boards nailed to the
trees. There are about 200 boards total nailed to the trees.

Displaying the broken boards and worn-out sneakers was the brainchild
of David Beasley and Dorain Motowylak.

“This was never intended to be a sign. It’s a work of art,” Beasley
told the Board of Adjustment.

Laney Branch, who worked at the skate shop, said it was a badge of
honor for kids to have their boards nailed to the tree.

“They would come to me holding their broken boards with glee,” she
said.

Marcella Casals, a mother of two who do not skate, called the tree a
piece of folk art.

“It’s a creative, joyful expression, not an intent to advertise.”

Motowylak called the result a “thing of awe.” He said talking it down
would “support all the hateful people who bash us.”

Briggs said the city was not anti-skateboarders.

Board of Adjustment member Lee Zuravel said this was not an attempt to
stifle their creativity.

The board hears requests for variances to the city’s zoning code and
cases involving decisions by the Inspection Department.

Blount Street Skate Shop owner Roggio said no one was paid to nail the
boards to the trees. He said the practice will be suspended while the
decision is appealed.

He added if the city wants to call the trees a sign, provisions of the
ordinance would exempt the skateboards and shoes.

Signs that are not legible are exempt. Outdoor merchandise also is
exempt, he said.

The city’s position is that a sign is anything that conveys a message.

Zuravel had problems with the wording of the “snipe sign” provisions
of the ordinance.

The city said the skateboards and sneakers violated the “snipe signs”
provision.

A snipe sign is defined as any sign attached to “any curb, sidewalk,
utility pole, post fence, hydrant, bridge, another sign or surface,
public bench, street light, or any tree, rock, or other natural object
located on, over, or across any public street or public property.”

Briggs said the prohibition applied to signs on public and private
property.